Ash Hayley, Buchanan-Smith Hannah M
Behaviour and Evolution Research Group and Scottish Primate Research Group, Psychology, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland.
Am J Primatol. 2014 Nov;76(11):1062-73. doi: 10.1002/ajp.22293. Epub 2014 May 8.
The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is widely used in biomedical research, with many housed for breeding purposes world-wide. Significant variation in reproductive output among females has been found compared to other anthropoid primates. The present study explores this reproductive variation, focusing on potential predictors of dam longevity and litter size, as well as changes over time. Back-record analysis was conducted, yielding litter information and reproductive summaries of 360 dams housed at three UK marmoset colonies over four decades (1970s-2000s). Results revealed differences among the colonies, as well as within colonies over decades, suggesting environment may play an important role. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses revealed significant effects of mean litter size and yearly production on dam longevity. Decade, mean inter-birth interval and mean dam weight were found to be significant factors explaining dam longevity when looking at colonies individually. The most commonly recorded cause of death was "poor condition." Linear regression models found that no reproductive variable was useful in explaining mean litter size, except dam weight at conception, data which was only consistently recorded at one colony. While triplets were common at all three colonies, these larger litters were consistently associated with higher infant mortality, despite human intervention to improve survival. This study increases our understanding of marmoset reproduction, and possible improvements to practical aspects of colony management to enhance survival and welfare are discussed.
普通狨猴（Callithrix jacchus）在生物医学研究中被广泛使用，全球有许多用于繁殖目的的饲养群体。与其他类人猿灵长类动物相比，已发现雌性狨猴的繁殖产出存在显著差异。本研究探讨了这种繁殖差异，重点关注母猴寿命和产仔数的潜在预测因素，以及随时间的变化。进行了回溯记录分析，得出了四个十年（20世纪70年代至21世纪初）间英国三个狨猴群体中360只母猴的产仔信息和繁殖总结。结果显示群体之间以及几十年间群体内部存在差异，这表明环境可能起着重要作用。Cox比例风险回归分析显示平均产仔数和年繁殖量对母猴寿命有显著影响。单独观察各个群体时，发现十年、平均产仔间隔和母猴平均体重是解释母猴寿命的重要因素。最常见的死亡原因是“身体状况不佳”。线性回归模型发现，除受孕时的母猴体重（该数据仅在一个群体中持续记录）外，没有生殖变量可用于解释平均产仔数。虽然三胞胎在所有三个群体中都很常见，但尽管有人类干预以提高存活率，这些较大的产仔数仍一直与较高的幼仔死亡率相关。本研究增进了我们对狨猴繁殖的理解，并讨论了在群体管理实际方面可能的改进措施，以提高存活率和福利水平。
